Gaijin

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Synopsis

When Jennifer left the cold and damp of London for the sparkle and bustle of Tokyo, she imagined she'd find a world full of cherry blossom festivals, ancient tea ceremonies and Geishas. What she got instead was a cramped, shared
apartment, harassment on the subway and a mind-numbing job as a hostess at the Blonde Chick Bar in Roppongi.

With a single, unintentional insult all that changed. She wakes up to find that she has been kidnapped by Shindo: a sadistic Yakuza demi-god who doesn't take his loss of face easily. Caught between his hatred of all things foreign and a growing obsession with this blonde gaijin, he is determined to make her pay for her rejection in sadistic and degrading ways.

`A woman's lot is to endure,' says the fox spirit in her dreams, but Jennifer wonders whether there are indeed fates worse than death. Little by little, she finds out.

Very special; extraordinary.

I came across this by a pure fluke, looking at some reviews for another book; a reviewer recommended Gaijin. The word hooked me, even though it only means foreigner, in Japanese, I find it beautiful; it becomes the He.'s name. The author warns us this is not a romance but for me it was exactly that; it was truly agapi, αγάπη. It was not romantic in the conventional sense, but had it not ended in the way it did, it surely would have been. Part of me wanted to deduct a * due to its abrupt ending, but it moved me in such a way, to do so would have been churlish.
The author was inspired here, and I felt like a true voyeur, being right there in each scene; it was more moving pictures, than just reading a book, and it was in technicolor; bright and brilliant. Remittance Girl is a true wordsmith, with her wonderful words and lyrical prose, the text just wraps around you; it flows so easily. The scenes in the glass walled apartment, gave me the impression of being lost in a maze; happy childhood memories, playful but scary too. What if you can never find your way out?!! There is a lusciously erotic scene on a balcony, wow, cover me in snow -please.
The pace was very fast, I read it in a couple of hours, and hated as the last chapter approached. All the characters were fascinating in their own way, especially the main protagonists. I would have loved it to have been longer, and to have ended differently, but it's wonderful as it is. Maybe we could persuade the author to revisit with an alternative ending? The Alp here is terrific, loved and feared him in equal measure. He was stunning. I can't recommend this little gem enough, simply great.